ACORN flap has a local angle

Border-crossing tips dispensed on video

UPDATE

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, local ACORN spokesman David Lagstein said the organization is “furious” that hidden cameras filmed employees of the community-organizing group, and he called such actions “immoral if not illegal.”

He also added that “we accept the imperfections that it exposed.”

Lagstein said that ACORN is standing behind local employee Juan Carlos Vera, whom he said will not be disciplined.

Vera was the employee shown on a clip that aired Wednesday night on Fox News answering questions at ACORN's National City office to a duo posing as a prostitute and a pimp about how to get people across the U.S.-Mexico border. A second clip showed Vera asking the woman how much her services cost.

Vera was at the news conference and he gave an emotional recounting of what happened. He broke into tears at least twice.

He said that English isn't his first language and that he was confused about what was going on. He said he was just trying to help.

Lagstein said that Vera ended up contacting a family member who works for police, and he said that shows that Vera knew what was happening was wrong.

Lagstein said that ACORN is calling on the people who released the video to put out the entire video. He said ACORN believes much of the incident was taken out of context.

Lagstein also said that he believes the timing was politically motivated, as it coincided with the day that President Obama gave a speech on health-care reform.

– Eleanor Yang Su

NATIONAL CITY 
A duo posing as a prostitute and a pimp who secretly recorded themselves getting financial advice from the community-organizing group ACORN in various cities conducted a similar operation in National City in July, an ACORN spokesman confirmed yesterday.

A 37-second clip aired last night on Fox News showed someone identified as an ACORN employee in San Diego answering questions about how to get people across the U.S.-Mexico border. A second, 15-second clip showed the same ACORN employee asking the woman how much her services cost.

Sean Hannity, the Fox News personality who aired the footage last night, called the actions crimes, but local ACORN spokesman David Lagstein said the employee's comments in the video were taken “completely out of context.”

“In their scenario, the alleged pimp and prostitute were trying to get assistance from ACORN, and he communicated that we are not able to give that assistance,” Lagstein said.

Similar videos shown this week featured ACORN employees giving financial counseling to the pair in Baltimore; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; and San Bernardino. The videos have caused a national stir, resulted in the firing of ACORN employees, triggered calls for state and national investigations and moved Congress to begin cutting off federal funding for the organization. ACORN has said it is revamping its employee training and will launch an independent review of its practices.

ACORN, an acronym for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the poor in 40 states.

It drew scrutiny in last year's presidential election after allegations that its employees submitted false voter-registration forms. ACORN has said that only a handful of employees did so in a bid to boost their pay.

The activists recorded themselves on a hidden camera asking about tax and other financial issues at several ACORN offices, including how to keep young girls from El Salvador who would be part of their business off the books.

In Baltimore, the response was to claim some of them as dependents.

In the footage shot in National City, a man is heard asking about the logistics of crossing the border. The ACORN employee says it's better to cross in Tijuana than inland, explains that he has some “people” in Tijuana and then says, “Yeah,” when the filmmaker asks, “And they might be able to assist in crossing the border?”

When the man and woman explain that there are a dozen 13- to 15-year-old girls who want to cross the border, the ACORN employee is shown saying, “I want to talk to you only right now for . . . ” before the aired segment ended.

Lagstein, ACORN's head San Diego County organizer, said the employee would give his side of the story in the next two days.

In an earlier interview, Lagstein confirmed that the filmmaking duo spoke to someone in ACORN's offices on West 35th Street site in July, but he wouldn't say who spoke to them, how long the conversation lasted or what was said.

The videos were created by activist filmmaker James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles and are being posted on
BigGovernment.com
, a new site launched by Internet entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart.

ACORN has terminated at least four staffers shown on the various videos, and it announced yesterday that it would stop offering walk-in social services at all its offices as it investigates its processes.

Lagstein said the local office sees about 1,000 people each year who want help with issues from taxes, foreclosures, home refinancing and food stamps.

Fallout has been fast as the controversy widened in recent days. On Friday, the U.S. Census Bureau dropped ACORN as one of 80,000 unpaid partners promoting the 2010 census. On Monday, the Senate barred the Department of Housing and Urban Development from giving federal housing aid to the organization. Yesterday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called on California's attorney general to investigate the organization.

Some Republicans are urging the Justice Department to investigate.

ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement that her group will work with its advisory council, which includes prominent supporters of President Barack Obama, such as John Podesta, president of the nonprofit Center for American Progress, and Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, to name an independent auditor and investigator.